Snowboarding On The Rocks-One Man’s Search For Answers

There I was, alone, in the vast Colorado desert. The storm clouds were rolling in as I arrived at the giant stone amphitheater. Hundreds of miles from home, I found myself stumbling upon a situation that I was completely unfamiliar with- something new, something exciting. Thousands of snowboarding fans, all gathered for a common goal- to see snowboarding on a massive video screen, and to listen to electronic music.

Wolves, Bears, Oh my!

Three videos were shown, Videograsses’ film, Shoot The Moon, Technine’s new film, Familia 2, and Standard Film’s new flick, TB20. It was actually pretty cool to see snowboarding share the same stage that has seen the likes of David Bowie, and the Kings Of Leon. It really puts into perspective just how big and popular our sport has become. While the videos were absolutely all time, it was somewhat obvious that many of the people were at RedRocks because of the musical acts.

Music fans? Or snowboard fans?

While witnessing “Snowboarding On The Rocks”, I began to have a thought. Is this what snowboarding has become? An almost freak show-esque festival of “extreme athletes” and “performers”? The loudest cheers from the crowd were not for the hardest, most technical tricks, but for the most rotations and flips. I know that right now, in snowboarding, we are in this battle between “progression” and “style”, but I think those are dated terms. Is snowboarding really in a state of progression if it’s being turned into figure-skating? And to counter act that argument, is it really a stylish snowboarding trick just because someone who was a pro in the mid-nineties could do it? I don’t know the answer to this question; Nobody does. And that’s what the beauty of snowboarding is. It’s a completely subjective sport/activity that has no boundaries, and no rules. As cliche as that last sentence might have sounded, I believe that it’s entirely true. Think about it, did you begin snowboarding because you wanted to make a ton of money from it? I am sure some of you reading this might say yes, but, also, a majority of you will definitely say no.

Pigeon John spitting "hot fire"

If you were looking for a traditional recap of the premieres, and for me to tell you whose part was the most radical, and that the videos were the sickest videos that I have ever seen, well, sorry to disappoint. But what I will tell you is that snowboarding is at a place where it’s absolutely huge. And it’s only growing bigger and bigger.

Here are a bunch of photos from “Snowboarding On The Rocks” this will make my recap seem like a more “actual” premiere recap.